Adjustable guide for portable saws



Patented Sept. 7,!" 1954 UNITED STATES rATNT OFFICE 2,688,347 ADJUSTABLE GUIDE FOR PORTABLE SAWS Menno D. Schmidt, Jacksonville, Oreg. Application July 3, 1953, Serial No. y365,910

(Cl. 14E- 43) 2 Claims. l

This invention relates to guides for power operated hand saws and more particularly to a guide assembly which can be mounted directly on the saw to facilitate the use of the saw as a rip saw for reducing the width of boards, cutting grooves, and other purposes.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a guide or gauge assembly which can be mounted directly on a power operated hand saw with no material modiilcation of the saw construction and can be applied to and removed from the saw as desired; which provides a guide bar disposed below the saw plate in spaced and parallel relationship to the saw blade; which is adjustable to position the guide rail at different selected distances from the saw blade and has means for releasably locking the guide rail in selected positions of adjustment; which facilitates the use of a power hand saw for ripping or grooving lumber; which provides an additional handlev for manually controlling the saw; and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, convenient to use, and effective to increase the usefulness of a power hand saw.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is atop plan view of a saw plate and a guide assembly illustrative of the invention operatively mounted on the saw plate, other components of the saw being shown in broken lines;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the saw plate and guide assembly illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3 3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

With continued reference to the drawing, the power operated hand saw, generally indicated at I0, includes a flat saw plate Il of elongated, rectangular shape having 'near one longitudinal edge thereof a longitudinally extending slot l2 of elongated, rectangular shape through which the saw blade i3 extends. The saw also includes a motor I4 mounted on a frame connected to the plate II by pivotal connections I 5 and I6 so that the plate can be tilted relative to the saw blade, and a saw handle Il connected to the motor I4 and extending laterally therefrom.

As electrically operated hand saws of the character indicated are old and well known to the art, a detailed illustration and description ofthe saw is considered unnecessary for the purposes of the present disclosure.

The saw plate I I has an upper surface disposed adjacent the saw motor I4 and a lower surface disposed remote from the motor and the adjustable guide assembly comprises lugs 2) and 2| mounted on the plate II adjacent the longitudinal edge of the plate remote from the slot l2 at locations spaced apart along this edge and extending upwardly from the top surface of the plate. The lugs 20 and 2 I are provided with bores 22 and 23 respectively extending therethrough and so positioned that the center lines of the bores are parallel to the plate II and at right angles to the longitudinal edge of the plate adjacent the lugs. A rod 24 has one end inserted in the bore 22 of the lug 20 and a set screw 25 extends through a tapped hole in the lug and engages the rod 24 at its inner end to releasably secure the rod in the lug. The rod is provided with a scale 26 of lineal measurement extending longitudinally thereof and. extends outwardly from the adjacent side edge of the saw plate. A rod 2l similar to the rod 24 has one end inserted into the bore 23 of the lug 2| and releasably secured therein by a set screw 28 threaded through a tapped hole in the lug and having its inner end in engagement with the rod 21 and the rod 2l isl also provided with a longitudinally extending scale of lineal measurement 29. The rods 24 and 27 are disposed in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other and 'extend outwardly from the adjacent edge of the plate I I with their longitudinal center lines substantially parallel to this plate and perpendicular to the adjacent side edge of the plate.

Slide blocks Si! and SI are slidably mounted on the rods 24 and 21 respectively outwardly of the adjacent side edge of the plate lI and are held in selected positions longitudinally of the corresponding rods by set screws 32 and 33 threaded through tapped holes in the blocks 30 and 3i respectively and having their inner ends in engagement with the the corresponding rods. These slide blocks 30 and 3l depend from the rods 24 and 2l and a hand knob 35 is mounted on the upper end of the block 30 to provide a handle in addition to the saw handle I 1 for manually controlling the saw.

An elongated bar 32 is disposed below and outwardly of the side edge of the plate II adjacent the lugs 2l] and 2l and substantially parallel to this side edge of the plate and is secured to the bottom ends of the slide blocks 3i] and 3l.'

A second bar 38 is disposed below the plate H in spaced and parallel relationship to the bar St and a guide rail 4G, formed of a suitable material such as hard wood, is secured to the bar 38 at the side of this bar remote from the bar 38 and is adapted to rest against an edge of a lumber work piece 4I to guide the saw longitudinally of the work piece.

The rail 38 is provided with apertured bosses 42 and 42 having bores 43 and 44 disposed directly below the rods 24 and 21 respectively with their longitudinal center lines parallel to these rods and guide rods 45 and 4B extend slidably through the bores of the bosses 42 and 42 respectively and are secured at corresponding ends to the reinforcing bar 38 as by having screw threaded end portions thereof threaded into tapped holes in the bar 38, as illustrated in Figure 3. As stated above, the guide rods 45 and 46 are parallel to the rods 24 and 2l and maintain the reinforcing bar 38 and guide rail 40 parallel to the saw plate I I and tothe bar 36.

The bar 35 is also provided with boss formations 48 and 49 disposed adjacent the bosses 42 and 42 respectively and having screw threaded bores extending therethrough parallel to the bores `43 and 44. A screw shaft 58 is threaded through the bore of the boss 43 and is rotatably connected at its end adjacent the reinforcing bar 38 to this bar, as indicated at 5I in Figure 4, and a screw shaft 52 is threaded through the screw threaded bore of the boss 49 and rotatably connected at its end adjacent the reinforcing bar 38 to this bar in the same manner as that in which the screw shaft 58 is connected to the bar 38. The screw shafts U and 52 are disposed in parallel relationship to each other and to the plate II and at right angles to the longitudinal edge of the plate from which the rods 214 and 2l extend and are effective, when rotated, to move the bar 38 and guide rail 48 toward or away from the bar 35 to thereby adjustably vary the distance between the saw blade I3 and the adjacent side of the guide rail 48.

The screw shafts 5B and 52 are provided on their ends remote from the bar 38 with hand knobs 54 and 55 respectively for manually rotating the screw shafts and wing locking nuts 56 and 51 are threaded onto the screw shafts 58 and 52 at the ends of the bosses 48 and 49 adjacent the knobs 54 and 55 to releasably lock the screw shafts in adjusted position relative to the bar 38. With this arrangement, the guide rail 48 will remain parallel to the saw blade I3 and can be adjustably set at various distances from the saw blade to position the saw blade at desired distances from an edge of a lumber work piece.

The invention may be embodied in other specie forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a power hand saw having a plate of rectangular shape provided with a slot through which the saw blade extends, an

adjustable guide assembly comprising lugs mounted on said plate at locations spaced apart along one longitudinal edge of the plate and extending from the top surface of the plate, each of said lugs having a bore extending therethrough with its center line substantially parallel to the plate and at right angles to said one longitudinal edge thereof, rods releasably secured one in each of saidlugs and extending from said lugs in spaced and substantially parallel relationship to each other, slide blocks mounted one on each of said rods and releasably secured to said rods at selected positions of adjustment therealong, a bar carried by said slide blocks below and substantially parallel to said one longitudinal edge of said plate, a guide rail disposed below said plate in spaced and parallel relationship to said bar, and screws rotatably connected to said guide rail at locations spaced apart therealong and extending from said guide rail in parallel relationship to each other through tapped holes in said bar for adjustably moving said guide rail toward and away from said bar.

2. In combination with a power hand saw having a plate of rectangular shape provided with a slot through which the saw blade extends, an adjustable guide assembly comprising lugs mounted on said plate at locations spaced apart along one longitudinal edge of the plate and extending from the top surface of the plate, each of said lugs having a bore extending therethrough with its center line substantially parallel to the plate and at right angles to said one longitudinal edge thereof, rods releasably secured one in each of said lugs and extending from said lugs in spaced and substantially parallel relationship to each other, slide blocks mounted one on each of said rods and releasably secured to said rods at selected positions of adjustment therealong, a bar carried by said slide blocks below and substantially parallel to said one longitudinal edge of said plate, a guide rail disposed below said plate in spaced parallel relationship to said bar, screws rotatably connected to said guide rail at locations spaced apart therealong and extending from said guide rail in parallel relationship to each other through tapped holes in said bar for adjustably moving said guide rail toward and away from said bar, said bar having bosses at locations spaced apart therealong and provided respectively with bores the longitudinal center lines of which are parallel to said rods, and guide rods secured to said guide rail at spaced apart locations therealong and extending slidably through the bores of the bosses on said bar to retain said guide rail in parallel relationship to said saw plate and said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 17,087 Billingsley Sept. 25, 1928 564,753 Jury et al. July 28, 1896 1,706,115 Hannah Mar. 19, 1929 1,885,087 De Witt Oct. 25, 1932 2,587,994 Gregory Mar. 4, 1952 

